With President Cope’s interest in making Friends University “distinctively Christian,” Dr. Richard Foster, author of The Celebration of Discipline, was hired as a writer-in-residence and teacher. Foster organized two writers’ conferences during his first few years and then established the Christian Writer’s Center, later known as the Milton Center. Dr. Howard Macy was also a spiritual pioneer on campus, establishing “Frontiers,” a lay institute for religious growth in February. Christians from all churches in the community would be invited, as minimal cost, to engage in discussion and study of contemporary issues. Multiple classes were offered and hundreds enrolled each year. The program continued until 1991.